Book of Ezekiel

The Book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament of the Bible is one of the books of the Major Prophets. Its name is drawn from Ezekiel, a priest - prophet who lived in Jerusalem and was one of the Jews deported by Nebuchadnezzar II to Babylon at the beginning of the 6th century BC. The book is divided into three parts: (1) the threats against Judah and Jerusalem before the fall of Jerusalem (chaps. 1 - 24); the threats against foreign nations (chaps. 25 - 32); and (3) promises for the future restoration of Israel and the Temple (chaps. 33 - 48).

The Book of Ezekiel describes the prophet's many visions and symbolic actions with vivid literary imagery. The following well - known passages demonstrate the author's extraordinary imagination and gift for allegory: the vision of Yahweh's chariot (chap. 1); Ezekiel's symbolic acts of eating the scroll (2:1 - 3:15) and shaving his hair and beard (5:1 - 4); the sword of God's wrath (21); the allegory of the rusty pot (24:1 - 14); the lament over Egypt (31 - 32); and the vision of the dry bones (37:1 - 14).

Written during the Babylonian Captivity (586 - 38 BC), the book links preexilic Israel and the Judaism of the restoration. Ezekiel stressed the interior qualities of religion, as the earlier prophets had, but in the manner of later writers he looked to the Temple and to cultic observances. He described life in exile and preached a message of hope, striving to sustain his fellow deportees in their faith and traditions. This message culminates in the final vision of the temple in the new Jerusalem and the restoration of Israel.

George W Coats

Bibliography
W Eichrodt, Ezekiel: A Commentary (1970); P Fairbain, Ezekiel (1988); H Jacobson, The Exagogue of Ezekiel (1983); R W Klein, Ezekiel (1988).

Book of Ezekiel

Brief Outline

Eze'kiel

Ezekiel, God will strengthen.

• (1.) 1 Chr. 24:16, "Jehezekel."
• (2.) One of the great prophets, the son of Buzi the priest (Ezek. 1:3). He was one of the Jewish exiles who settled at Tel-Abib, on the banks of the Chebar, "in the land of the Chaldeans." He was probably carried away captive with Jehoiachin (1:2; 2 Kings 24:14-16) about B.C. 597. His prophetic call came to him "in the fifth year of Jehoiachin's captivity" (B.C. 594). He had a house in the place of his exile, where he lost his wife, in the ninth year of his exile, by some sudden and unforeseen stroke (Ezek. 8:1; 24:18). He held a prominent place among the exiles, and was frequently consulted by the elders (8:1; 11:25; 14:1; 20:1). His ministry extended over twenty-three years (29:17), B.C. 595-573, during part of which he was contemporary with Daniel (14:14; 28:3) and Jeremiah, and probably also with Obadiah. The time and manner of his death are unknown. His reputed tomb is pointed out in the neighbourhood of Bagdad, at a place called Keffil.

Book of Eze'kiel

The Book of Ezewkiel consists mainly of three groups of prophecies. After an account of his call to the prophetical office (1-3:21), Ezekiel (1) utters words of denunciation against the Jews (3:22-24), warning them of the certain destruction of Jerusalem, in opposition to the words of the false prophets (4:1-3). The symbolical acts, by which the extremities to which Jerusalem would be reduced are described in ch. 4,5, show his intimate acquaintance with the Levitical legislation. (See Ex. 22:30; Deut. 14:21; Lev. 5:2; 7:18,24; 17:15; 19:7; 22:8, etc.) (2.) Prophecies against various surrounding nations: against the Ammonites (Ezek. 25:1-7), the Moabites (8-11), the Edomites (12-14), the Philistines (15-17), Tyre and Sidon (26-28), and against Egypt (29-32). (3.)

Prophecies delivered after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar: the triumphs of Israel and of the kingdom of God on earth (Ezek. 33-39); Messianic times, and the establishment and prosperity of the kingdom of God (40;48). The closing visions of this book are referred to in the book of Revelation (Ezek. 38=Rev. 20:8; Ezek. 47:1-8=Rev. 22: 1,2). Other references to this book are also found in the New Testament. (Comp. Rom. 2:24 with Ezek. 36:2; Rom. 10:5, Gal. 3:12 with Ezek. 20:11; 2 Pet. 3:4 with Ezek. 12:22.) It may be noted that Daniel, fourteen years after his deportation from Jerusalem, is mentioned by Ezekiel (14:14) along with Noah and Job as distinguished for his righteousness, and some five years later he is spoken of as pre-eminent for his wisdom (28:3).

Ezekiel's prophecies are characterized by symbolical and allegorical representations, "unfolding a rich series of majestic visions and of colossal symbols." There are a great many also of "symbolcal actions embodying vivid conceptions on the part of the prophet" (4:1-4; 5:1-4; 12:3-6; 24:3-5; 37:16, etc.) "The mode of representation, in which symbols and allegories occupy a prominent place, gives a dark, mysterious character to the prophecies of Ezekiel. They are obscure and enigmatical. A cloudy mystery overhangs them which it is almost impossible to penetrate. Jerome calls the book 'a labyrith of the mysteries of God.' It was because of this obscurity that the Jews forbade any one to read it till he had attained the age of thirty." Ezekiel is singular in the frequency with which he refers to the Pentateuch (e.g., Ezek. 27; 28:13; 31:8; 36:11, 34; 47:13, etc.). He shows also an acquaintance with the writings of Hosea (Ezek. 37:22), Isaiah (Ezek. 8:12; 29:6), and especially with those of Jeremiah, his older contemporary (Jer. 24:7, 9; 48:37).